MCI okays 350 more MBBS seats in government colleges

Students who aspire to pursue MBBS in government medical colleges from the academic year 2017-18 will have a better chance of getting a seat as there will be 350 additional seats from this year on.

The Medical Council of India (MCI) has approved the Karnataka government’s proposal to increase the intake by 50 seats each in its seven colleges.

The intake will increase from 100 to 150 in Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences, Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences, Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences, Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences, Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences and Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences. In the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubballi, the intake will increase from 150 to 200 seats for the MBBS course.  

The state’s department of Medical Education had sent a proposal to increase the intake to the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS). After they were approved by the RGUHS, the proposals had to be accepted by the MCI.

The MCI conducted assessments of these colleges, to see if they met the requirements for increasing the intake. Number of residents, bed occupancy, teaching beds and other facilities were assessed. After seeing the reports, the executive committee of the council, which includes the president of MCI, vice-president, and principals of medical colleges in the country, recommended  the Centre to issue permission to these colleges in April.

In the case of the medical college in Bidar, the MCI found that the college did not meet required standards. The college did not have the required number of paramedical and non-teaching stuff, had subscribed to 85 medical journals instead of the recommended 100, and was deficient in equipment.

In the meeting on April 11, the executive committee had decided not to accept the recommendation. However, the proposal was later accepted after the government took an undertaking that it would comply with standards within the given time.